Education Week, January 10, 2002
Few in the world of education would argue with the notion that many skills and attitudes required for a life of successful learning have their roots in the nursery, yet providing an appropriate environment for early years' learning for all children is no easy matter. The sixth annual Quality Counts report, published by Education Week this week, examines what all 50 states and the District of Columbia are doing in their efforts to provide quality early-learning experiences for children under the age of five. During a typical week, 11.9 million children younger than 5 in the United States spend part of their waking hours in the care of someone other than their parents. The report notes that 39 states and the District of Columbia provide state-financed pre-kindergarten for at least some of their 3-to 5-year olds, up from about 10 in 1980. Annual state spending for such programs now exceeds $1.9 billion. Despite this increased spending, however, there is a huge discrepancy across states, and even within communities, in the quality of learning experiences afforded young children. One of the primary reasons for this variation is that less than a third of the states have specified what under-fives should know or be able to do. Also working against the goal of high-quality early learning experiences for all children is the abysmal pay of preschool teachers, who had an average annual salary of $19,610 in 1999, less than half of the salary of the average elementary school teacher. As always, Quality Counts also rates the 50 states on many aspects of K-12 education, organized under the headings of student achievement, standards and accountability, improving teacher quality, school climate, and resources. To view Quality Counts 2002 or to order a hard copy, go to http://www.edweek.org/qc.
